The 10 Best CBD Products

We have our best cbd oils list, our best edibles list, and our best flower list, all laid out and summarized for those of you that know your favorite category of CBD. But, what if you aren’t sure which are the best CBD products overall, across categories? Let’s look at what is appealing about each type of CBD product and then line up some of the best CBD brands for comparison.

We tend to review more CBD oils than either edibles or flower, since the oils are the most common and most popular method of taking CBD. That doesn’t mean it’s the best method for you, though. We encourage our readers to try different forms of CBD and our Best CBD Products list is a great place to start.

What is CBD? A Refresher

A brief History of Cannabis

Cannabis, which is inclusive of marijuana and hemp, has been believed to have restorative powers dating back hundreds of years. The psychoactive effects of marijuana led some cultures to frown on the use of cannabis plants altogether. This stigma led to strong societal rejection of cannabis and to outlawing its use. This included the seemingly benign hemp plant, which is a cousin of marijuana and favorite source of non-psychoactive compounds such as CBD.

In the early 1990s, a few researchers began to disregard the stereotypes that stigmatized the cannabis plant family overall. They began looking into cannabinoids, such as CBD, and began to explore the potential benefits that might be obtained from them. The seeds of the CBD (r)evolution had been planted.

As many of our readers will be aware, numerous states have since begun to loosen their restrictions and allow the growing, sale, and use of hemp products. CBD use slowly began to spread in the last eight to ten years as a result. In late 2018, congress passed the Farm Bill, specifically legalizing hemp cultivation and use. The floodgates opened.

We have a full discussion on cannabis and the potential benefits of CBD here. For now, let’s look at the different types of CBD that we feel represent the best CBD products overall and the best CBD brands.

Types of CBD Products

Since the passage of the Farm Bill, the breadth of CBD products has exploded. There is a variety of products available to suit all preferences and we’re here to cut through the noise for you. We consider most, but not all of these products in our reviews and evaluations. A short definition of each will help to set the stage for our list of best CBD products.

CBD Oils or Tinctures

You will often see the terms “oil” and “tincture” used interchangeably in the CBD product world. In actuality, there is a difference:

Oils are composed of CBD extracted from the plant by a method known as supercritical CO₂ extraction and suspended in an inert carrier oil such as coconut oil, MCT oil, or hemp seed oil. They may or may not have other ingredients added for flavor or to add to the anticipated benefits.

Tinctures, by definition, are alcohol-based. CBD is extracted from the plant by heating in alcohol, and the resulting liquid can be carried in an alcohol or put into an oil for better taste. Again, flavoring, herbs, or other ingredients may be added for taste or possible beneficial effects.

We don’t have a huge problem with the terms oils and tinctures being used interchangeably, but you should at least be familiar with the basic difference. Some people may have reasons to avoid one type or the other and may need to clearly understand how their product was extracted and formulated.

For our purposes in the best CBD products list, we will consider oils and tinctures as the same product category.

One of the main advantages of this category of CBD product is that an oil or tincture is easily dropped under the tongue at a relatively precise dose and partially absorbed (read: fast acting) through the mouth. CBD edibles are often absorbed more slowly, while CBD flower (inhaled) is likely faster.

CBD Edibles

The best CBD brands have gotten very creative with the CBD-infused edible products they offer. You can find chocolate bars, candy, trail mix, mints, and more, all offering your CBD in a tasty treat. The most common edible by far, though, are CBD-infused gummies.

As with other types of CBD products, you can find gummies that are formulated for specific goals. Some products claim to help you sleep, others claim to reduce pain, keep you calm, or boost immunity and so on.  Again, none of these claims are approved by the FDA, so the brands claiming any benefits are doing so on an anecdotal basis.

Some of the main benefits of CBD edibles are that they can be taken with you on-the-go, are easy and pleasurable to consume (usually), and can be slower acting for those of you that are looking for a gradual build.

CBD Hemp Flower

Just a few short years ago, hemp flower was being grown almost exclusively to extract CBD for other CBD product formulations. Unlike marijuana sold in dispensaries, it was not being grown to be smoked or vaporized. Smoking hemp was harsh and unpleasant to say the least.

Hemp farmers have improved their growing methods and strain genetics dramatically, though, in recent years. With the advent of the Farm Bill and the recognition that other components of hemp flower (terpenes, flavinoids) MIGHT contribute to the overall experience beyond THC and CBD, farmers have started to grow CBD flower specifically for smoking and vaporizing. Some of the best CBD brands are now growing famous strains, indoors, in living soil or hydroponically.

For those who enjoy vaping or smoking, hemp flower has become a pleasant and effective way to enjoy CBD. While we didn’t even have a category for CBD flower when we started CBDtop10, we are now convinced that flower will remain an important part of our best CBD products list.

CBD Gel Capsules

One could look at CBD capsules in a couple of ways; is it an edible or an oil? Capsules are usually in the familiar form of soft gels filled with CBD oil. This option is great for those who don’t care for the taste of CBD oil products, but enjoy the overall experience of CBD consumption. You get the same oil as you would if taking it sublingually, but without the mess or lingering taste.

The main benefit of capsules, assuming your personal dosage target is a multiple of 10 or 25 milligrams, is that they are incredibly easy to take with you on-the-go or to incorporate into a daily supplement routine.

CBD Creams, Balms, and Ointments

This is another CBD category with a huge selection of products, collectively known as topicals. Consumers can choose from products that claim to address pain relief, skin care, anti-inflammatory protection, and more.

Although this is a large and popular product category, we at CBDtop10 do not yet review them. We choose to focus our efforts on CBD products meant to be ingested in some way. The time will come when we include topicals in our study of the best CBD products, but at this time we restrict our efforts and resources to helping people choose products meant for internal consumption.

Hunting the Best CBD Products

When selecting a CBD product, as with anything that could impact one’s mind, body, and wallet, it is clearly a good idea to do some research. So, you start out looking at manufacturers’ websites. What do you find? Every one of them tells you they’re the best! Ignore that and look a little deeper; what is the company’s process, the mission, the source of the hemp, extraction, testing, etc.

You will end up doing a lot of reading, and you may still find it hard to sort it all out and determine which are the best CBD products and best CBD brands. Instead, we propose to you the CBDtop10 shortcut:

CBDtop10 and our CBD Reviews

The team at CBDtop10.com has thoroughly done the research for you. We have done the reading, but beyond that, we have tried hundreds of CBD products. By objectively applying our testing criteria across all reviews, our goal is to whittle down the best CBD products to the cream of the crop. We talk to the people making the products. We read customer reviews and engage in forums. In short, we have done your homework.

Our selection process starts before we even purchase, or accept a product for review.  In order to be considered for a review by the CBDtop10 team, we insist that the CBD product meets three fundamental requirements:

• Hemp from what we believe is a reliable North American or European source
• Supercritical CO2 extraction (or similar non-toxic method) of CBD
• Independent testing and availability of test results

When a brand has met these criteria and we have researched enough to know the company is a legitimate, quality-focused brand, we accept one or more products to be considered in our search for the best CBD products.

Our Scoring Metrics

Once we accept a qualified CBD product for review, our process involves multiple members of our review team trying the CBD product and recording their impressions. We score the products on five criteria:

• Taste – obviously, we assess how pleasant or unpleasant the taste is. Some CBD products are flavored, some not. Sweetness of flavored products is not necessarily a high-ranking factor. Some have an exotic taste that is unusual but satisfying. In full spectrum products, there is a grassy taste from the hemp plant. Gels and capsules are swallowed whole and have no taste.
• Delivery – if considering an oil, what sort of delivery method is used; eye dropper, spray, oral syringe? Is the recommended dosage indicated and, if a dropper is used, does it give volume markings imprinted? If an edible, how is the texture, the feeling in the mouth, etc. Across all categories, what is the level of convenience of this type of delivery?
• Potency – We look at the concentration of CBD per volume of the product. Most oils come in 15 milliliter or 30 milliliter bottles, so the concentration is easy to determine. Gummies and other edibles are clearly defined and marked, so there is no mystery. Beyond that, how does the CBD land relative to its concentration level. Some products are intended to have low concentrations for specific purposes, others are intended to pack a high-concentration punch.
• Effect – this is a subjective value that we discuss among ourselves to see how each team member “felt” the CBD. We don’t claim any medical solutions from CBD, but we consider how we feel in body and mind, how we sleep, etc.
• Price– This is easy enough to explain. We look at the price in terms of cents per milligram of CBD. Typically, this value ranges from about five cents to 15 cents per milligram, but we’ve seen higher and lower numbers. Edibles are often higher priced than oils, as would be expected. Surprisingly, some very high-quality products have come in at the low end of this range, so it is possible to find great value.

Along with these five criteria, we look at specific practices and intangible values of each company to get a better feel for their mission and methods. These observations can sway our opinions, and are often pointed out in our “Initial Thoughts” section.

The Best CBD Products

And now, the reveal! This is our current list of the best CBD products that we have reviewed. The list crosses category lines and shows our combined best oils, edibles, and flower. Bear in mind, this list can and will change (especially flower strains) as we review more and more CBD products, so check back to stay current.

Finally, we do not claim to have tried every CBD product out there, so there are sure to be some gems that we have not yet gotten to. Of the ones we have reviewed, here is our list of the top 10 best CBD products:

CBD Products                    Score (1-10)

#1    Green Roads 15 mg Chocolate Bar                                   9.4

Green Roads believes in raising the industry quality bar and has drawn from its pharmacy heritage to accomplish that. This chocolate bar is truly a decadent experience. Usually, you get edibles that are not quite on par with the taste as they are with the CBD content. However, this is a great tasting chocolate bar. Come for the CBD, stay for the taste. Read our review here, or go to Green Roads to shop, and use code CBDTOP1010 for 10% off.

#2    Secret Nature Frosted Kush                                               9.0

This top-rated flower boasts premium packaging, an easy-to-navigate website, great product descriptions, 100% organic products and rave customer reviews. As such, Secret Nature has quickly climbed the flower ranks. Our reviewers agreed with the customers – this one is a winner! We love that lab results for each strain are front and center, too. Read our review here, or go to Secret Nature to shop, and use code CBDTOP10 for 10% off.

#3    WNC BaOX                                                                          9.0

WNC is known for having exclusively indoor-grown flower at a reasonable price. From hydroponic harvests to small batch strains, WNC pays close attention to detail. Our team chose the BaOX strain and discovered we had another top-dog contender. WNC CBD is doing things right and this BaOX flower is proof. Read our review here, or go to WNC CBD to shop, and use code CBDTOP10 for 10% off.

#4    CBDistillery 1000 mg Full Spectrum CBD Oil                8.8

CBDistillery has excellent branding, a passionate staff and quality CBD. As a result, they have quickly become a dominant player in the CBD industry. This oil is super smooth, with only the lightest of hemp oil tastes and a mild aftertaste. It’s not the highest CBD potency on the market, but it’s pretty close to perfect for us. It could quickly become a daily ritual. Read our review here, or go to CBDistillery to shop, and use code CBDTOP10 for 20% off.

#5    Green Roads 50 mg Froggies                                          8.8

Green Roads has outdone themselves with the introduction of the 50 mg Froggies product. This on-the-go product is a perfect balance of convenience and quality. The taste, delivery, potency, and body effect are on point, ticking all of the boxes we look for when reviewing CBD products. Green Roads was already a leader in CBD Edibles, but this product stands out. Read our review here, or go to Green Roads to shop, and use code CBDTOP1010 for 10% off.

#6    Medterra 1000 mg CBD Oil                                             8.8

Medterra employs a strict “seed to table” process that results in products that earn awards. With organic hemp grown on their own Kentucky hemp farm and stringent third party testing, Medterra has earned the U.S. Hemp Authority quality certification. The ability to control their product from end-to-end is certainly unique within the CBD industry. Read our review here, or go to Medterra to shop, and use CBDTOP10 for 15% off.

#7    Hemp Hop Abacus Diesel                                               8.8

Hailing from Charlotte, North Carolina, Hemp Hop is breaking the California and Oregon producer mold. This flower is getting rave reviews from customers, and we’re joining the chorus. Hemp Hop is amongst some of the early top brands in the CBD flower space. On top of a slight cherry finish to the smoke of the Abacus Diesel, we found it to be super mellow. Read our review here, or go to Hemp Hop to shop.

#8    Black Tie Blueberry Pie                                                   8.8

Black Tie has a TON of CBD products for sale. The website is well organized and chock full of detailed descriptions of their flower, which we appreciate. This flower definitely lets you know it’s working from the jump. Blueberry Pie is one of the few strains our reviewers found to be mood shifting. In short order, we had a great muscle chill throughout most of our body. Read our review here, or go to Black Tie to shop, and use CBDTOP10 for 15% off.

#9    HealthSmart Broad Spectrum 1500mg CBD Oil        8.7

HealthSmart’s mission is to make terpene-infused CBD that, in their words, “provide natural solutions for optimal wellness”. We love to see the variations that CBD brands can devise with targeted terpenes, and so we took a look at their 1500 mg peppermint oil and loved what we found.  Hands down, this is one of the best tasting, flavored oils that we’ve reviewed. Read our review here, or go to HealthSmart to shop, and use CBDTOP10 for 15% off.

#10    WNC Strawberry Cake                                                8.7

After trying the WNC BaOX product, we became instant fans and they have yet to disappoint. WNC offers high quality, hydroponically grown indoor hemp flower from North Carolina, and they’ve produced another winner with this Strawberry Cake strain. This smooth smoke with unique effects is going to find a lot of fans in the flower community. Read our review here, or go to WNC CBD to shop, and use code CBDTOP10 for 10% off.

All of the products we review have met our quality standards, but don’t think that these ten products are your only acceptable choices. Most of the CBD products we have tried tend to cluster around the same scores (within a few tenths of a point), so there are a number of other products on our site that are scored very close to these ten – do some exploring!

The Final Word

The final word on these 10 best CBD products is that there is no final word! This list is subject to frequent change. A number of products have impressed our reviewers and scored well. So well, in fact, that they are either tied with or right on the heels of these ten. As these and other new products are evaluated or reevaluated, our list will definitely see some shuffling of positions.

We are always reviewing new CBD offerings, and the best CBD brands are constantly launching innovative, high quality new CBD products. We will keep an eye on these products as closely as we can. It’s a task that we love to do, and that we take seriously.

We are usually notified of new products by the CBD companies, but we know we don’t catch them all. If you are using a CBD product that you think could and should be one of our best CBD products, please let us know! This is a communal undertaking and we look forward to conversations about our selections and opinions.